[HBQRP] Elmer 101

[Darrel Swenson]

OK Guys...

Here we go with Elmer 101.  I passed out all of the kits at the meeting on
Saturday.  (NW0Y & K0EMC, Brian KM0Y has your kits and will get them to
you.)

Including me, we have at least 7 people building an SW30+, 2 building an
SW20+, and I have an SW40+ (and an SW40original not working) to work on.  I
will try and keep up on the SW30+, and work on my other 3 as time allows.

A couple of people started building the whole kit right away, which is fine,
or you can follow along section by section with the Elmer 101 material.  (If
you build ahead, you and still do most of the theory tests if you want,
usually by just unsoldering one end of a component or two.)

First, read the manual... Dave has done a wonderful job on the manual and it
contains a ton of information.  Don't worry if you don't understand all the
theory stuff... that's why we are doing this.

Second, inventory your kit... If you are missing anything, double check, and
then let me or Small Wonder Labs know.  If it is a common component I may
have one in my junk box supply.  Otherwise we will contact SWL and get the
correct part.

You may want to organize your parts in some manner as you inventory them.
Dar, W9HZC was using a piece of construction foam, Styrofoam works too (just
don't stick the ICs in the foam, unless it is the pink "anti-static" foam.)
Another technique is the old Heathkit method of cutting the top half off a
small cardboard box and putting the parts with long leads in the holes in
the cardboard.  The rest of the pieces go in the center of the box.  I am
using  some small plastic "fishing tackle" or "craft" boxes to organize my
parts.  If you come up with another method... share it with the group.

You will also need the normal assortment of hand tools and some kind of
12-14 volt power supply (at least 500 mA.)  A small 12 volt battery (from an
alarm system for example) works good... or 8 D cells will also work.  Check
to make sure your supply is at the proper voltage.

Third, start building...  The first section is the power supply.  Follow the
directions in the Elmer 101 material, install the first 4 components and run
the tests on page 3 of the booklet.  Once everyone has a chance to get
organized, we will move on to section 2, the VFO.

If you have any questions... post them to the group... if I can't answer
them, I'm sure someone will be able to.

Finally, if you didn't get one of the kits in the group buy, and don't
already have an SW??+ kit, you can still order one from Small Wonder Labs.
We won't be going too fast, so you will have time to catch up.

MELT SOLDER...  Darrel... K0AWB